Business, international

The remuneration of top business executives

Article Abstract:

Recent research has focused on the nature of the economic arguments about the salary levels of the UK's top executives and on the conclusions and recommendations of the Greenbury Committee on top executive pay. There are no clear statistical links between top executive pay and company performance, so there is no real incentive for top executives to focus on shareholders' interests. Furthermore, the link between company size and executive pay may prompt executives to increase the size of the company even if this is not in the interests of shareholders.

Temporary employment

Article Abstract:

The United Kingdom Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a useful source of data on temporary employment. Temporary employment is finite, and can last days or years. It may be seasonal, though an employment agency, or involve a fixed contract. Employers can adapt to changing market conditions more easily using temporary workers, though they may take some time to build up productivity, and may lack the motivation of permanent staff. The proportion of employees in temporary work in the UK has risen in the 1990s though was stable from 1984 to 1990.

Young people in the labour market

Article Abstract:

The UK's Modern Apprenticeship (MA) scheme, available to all young people up to the age of 24 who wish to undertake work-based training to NVQ level 3, has produced more government-supported training. However, this is not necessarily all new training, as some MA schemes merely replace schemes that were already been provided by employers without government support. The programme of National Traineeships introduced in Sep 1997 and the New Deal initiative, introduced in Apr 1998, are both likely to affect the future of MAs.